Triangle Capital unveils quarterly podcasts

Triangle Capital is adding podcasts to its investor relations repertoire.

The Raleigh-based, publicly traded investment firm recently announced that it would post a podcast on the investor relations section of its website in conjunction with the release of its second-quarter financial results after the market closes on Thursday, Aug. 6.

The podcast, which will likely be four to six minutes long, aims to provide investors an overview of "meaningful statistics and financial information" in advance of the company's quarterly conference call, which is scheduled for the following morning.

In today's fast-paced world, analysts and journalists "need more information than just the press release" to analyze the results prior to the conference call, said Steven Lilly, the company's chief financial officer.

"This is a way to provide the analyst community…with a chance to hear from management, in management's own voice, what management believes to be the most important points in the quarter," Lilly said.

Although many companies conduct their conference calls on the same day that their results are announced, others, including Triangle Capital, spread them out over two days.

The thinking is, said Lilly, that analysts "like to have time to be independent and read the 10-Q (financial information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission) as much as they can and formulate the questions they want to ask."

Lilly said that Triangle Capital tested the waters by issuing a podcast without fanfare in conjunction with its first-quarter results, merely mentioning that it was available during its conference call. The positive feedback convinced the company to make it a regular feature moving forward.

Triangle Capital makes loans ranging from $5 million to $35 million in midsize, privately owned businesses; it also takes a minority ownership stake in its portfolio companies.

Triangle Capital's research didn't turn up any other companies that are issuing podcasts focused on their financial results.

"I think we are one of the first," Lilly said.

Lilly, who was featured in the initial podcast, said he managed to do it in one take.

"We got lucky," he said.

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Triangle Capital unveils quarterly podcasts."